syria conflict

PARIS – U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura warned on Thursday that without a ceasefire or political agreement the rebel-stronghold of Idlib risked becoming a new Aleppo after the evacuation of thousands from the besieged city started. The operation to evacuate civilians and fighters from Aleppo began on Thursday, part of a ceasefire deal

ANKARA, Dec 14 – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed in a telephone call on Wednesday to make a joint effort to start the evacuation of civilians and opposition forces from eastern Aleppo as soon as possible, Turkish presidential sources said. Putin and Erdogan emphasised the need to prevent the violations

By Laila Bassam, Tom Perry and Lisa Barrington ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Plans to evacuate besieged rebel districts of Aleppo were under threat on Wednesday as renewed air strikes and shelling rocked the city in a bombardment the United Nations said “most likely constitutes war crimes”. Iran, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s

By Orhan Coskun and Daren Butler ANKARA/ISTANBUL, Dec 12 – The Turkish army has dropped leaflets on the Daesh-held city of al-Bab in Syria urging civilians to seek shelter, as rebels backed by Turkish tanks and warplanes close in on the city. The leaflets, dropped on the last urban stronghold of Daesh in the northern Aleppo

MOSCOW, Dec 9- The Russian military said on Friday it had helped more than 8,000 Syrian citizens flee parts of eastern Aleppo still controlled by rebels in the last 24 hours, including almost 3,000 children. The Russian military said in a statement that 14 rebels had also surrendered to Syrian government forces, laying down their

BEIRUT, Dec 6 – Syria rejects any ceasefire negotiated by any party in rebel-held eastern Aleppo unless what it describes as terrorist groups there depart, its Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday in a statement carried by state media. Moscow said on Monday that Russian and U.S. officials would meet this week to discuss a possible

By Alistair Scrutton STOCKHOLM, Nov 24 – The inhabitants of besieged rebel-held eastern Aleppo have fewer than ten days to receive aid or face starvation and death from a lack of medical supplies, the head of the Syria Civil Defence, or “White Helmets”, said on Thursday. The volunteer group which works in opposition-held territory and

LIMA, Nov 17 – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday he discussed Ukraine and “all aspects” of Aleppo including renewed bombing in the Syrian city this week in a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Speaking to reporters after their one-on-one talk during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru, Lavrov

BEIRUT, Nov 7 – U.S-backed Syrian armed groups have captured a number of villages in the first days of an offensive to retake the city of Raqqa from Daesh militants, a war monitor and a Kurdish source said on Monday. The ground forces are being supported by airstrikes mounted by a U.S.-led coalition, the source

By Mostafa Hashem and Ahmed Tolba CAIRO/BAGHDAD, Nov 3 – Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi expressed confidence in victory, in his first message after U.S.-backed Iraqi forces started an offensive to take back Mosul, the last major city under control of his group in Iraq. He also called on Daesh fighters to invade Turkey. “This